Re: Corona virus, Covid-19 and airshows?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 2:34 pm
I hope chino holds out as long as possible. It’s our only hope now.
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The prime minister made a statement yesterday evening in which he said there was little evidence that banning outdoor events would stem the spread of the virus and such events will not be banned (at least in England) for the time being. However, the Scottish Government is seeking a ban, and a UK-wide ban may be implemented in the future. This is on the grounds of reducing stress on the emergency services, rather than disease control, as they will likely be busy enough dealing with the virus without having to provide support for football matches, festivals, airshows etc. as well.We are planning to hold all our air shows and this won’t change unless there is a clear direction from Government. Some of our staff and volunteers may have been advised to self-isolate at that time, so we will deliver everything we can with the staff and volunteers we have. Since we have nine shows in the diary, we won’t postpone any shows if Government policy directs a cancellation – we’ll simply run the next show in the series that we are able.
We've already gotten comments in the Racine thread that sponsors for later events are very gun shy about supporting them given the climate. The economy is about to take a big hit so I think you're right, there will be a huge impact on smaller events like that.kalamazookid wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2020 2:55 pm Probably fair to wonder about the economic impact with regards to sponsorships too.
“The Air Force is committed to upholding the complete trust and confidence of Americans and our community engagement is the key to those connections. However, due to the uncertainty regarding COVID-19 and to protect our Airmen, their families and the communities that support us, the Department of the Air Force is suspending all outreach activities and support to community events through May 15. This includes, but is not limited to, on-base and civilian sponsored air shows, band performances and community engagements and meetings (speaking engagements, community meetings on installations, base tours, Pentagon visits, etc.). We will continue to support funeral flyovers on a case-by-case basis. The Air Force will continuously evaluate the situation and provide updates as needed.
“Please contact the Air Force Aerial Events Office at 703-695-9664 for Aerial Events questions, and your local installation public affairs office for questions regarding local activities.”
I think it is extremely likely. It is also very likely that more states will enact bans on events which will really be the killer. I am told that is what pushed Sun n Fun to make their announcement - a ban will supposedly be coming from the state of Florida soon.Adam wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2020 6:31 pm This is extraordinary. Wind the clock back 48 hours and it was conceivable to believe that the majority of US shows over the next few months might go ahead fairly normally. It's now equally conceivable to believe that there might be almost none at all! Is it likely that big civilian shows like Fort Lauderdale will cancel, even if the virus doesn't necessitate it, due to the loss of their headliner?